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More Women Than Ever Are Making Men Sign Prenups

More Women Than Ever Are Making Men Sign Prenups

With more ladies in powerful positions, they are protecting their assets.

By
Marianne Garvey

A high-powered lawyer who works at the firm Katie Holmes hired in her divorce from Tom Cruise tells Personal Space that she is getting more requests than ever from women who are demanding a prenup.

Traditionally, men have been the ones who have asked to have their money and property protected before they tie the knot — but that’s not the case any more, says Jennifer Riemer, 33, of Los Angeles based family firm Walzer Melcher LLP.

“I have seen the trend in both the practice and day-to-day life with friends,” Riemer says. “Traditionally prenups are thought of in terms of women being nervous or scared, because their position is as the weaker party.”

But it’s 2016, and many young women have come into a lot of money, especially in California, because of tech start ups and running their own businesses.

“Many women may come into a lot of money, I think there’s been decades of closing the wage gap and breaking the glass ceiling,” Riemer says. “A lot of young couples now both are becoming aware of prenups and want control over what happens, instead of whatever the law is at the moment.”

Riemer says that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg also pushed forward the Lean In movement, with women taking more powerful roles in companies and in the tech boom. But it’s also women who believe they may be successful down the line.

“Many women will have more money and they still want a fair shake and a fair deal. This isn’t 50 years ago,” she says.

And prenups hold weight if they are well done, says Riemer, stressing that you can’t just scratch something on a piece of paper.

“Prenups are governed by particular laws looked at by courts with a very keen eye,” she says. “There are laws that protect someone from having to sign a prenup the morning of the wedding.”

The laws are always changing, Riemer says, but the lawyers who handle prenups do their best to anticipate and protect a person as far into the future as they can.

Riemer said the top two things covered in prenups are division of property and alimony/spousal support.

“Prenups usually cover spousal support and property,” she says. “Men and women, when they’re thinking future, they presume their roles will always stay that way. And that flips, someone is ill, someone loses a job, someone comes into a lot of success.”

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